“How long have you been afraid of heights?”
“For as long as I can remember. I can fly, but that’s about it. It’s different when I’m so…” I gulp. “Exposed.”
I concentrate on the way her fingertips swirl patterns over my skin. Below us, I hear some kind of commotion and clanging noises that put my teeth on edge.
“Close your eyes,” she orders.
“Why?” I scoff. “So I don’t see the ground before I hit it?”
“We’re not falling,” she states with certainty. “We’ll be down soon. Do you trust me?”
I click my tongue. Do I trust Kady?
“First it was peanuts, and now this. Is a near-death experience a prerequisite for spending time with you?”
“I swear, I won’t push you out of the Ferris wheel,” she promises with a giggle. “Just trust me, okay? Whenever I start to panic, I do visualization exercises. My friend, Delilah, taught me about it.”
“Visualization? That doesn’t sound like something Kady Sinclair would be interested in.”
“What can I say?” Her eyes twinkle playfully. “I’m full of surprises.”
“Fine.” Reluctantly, I close one eye. “Better?”
“Close them both,” she replies. “Just listen to my voice. That’s all that matters.”
I become even more aware of how tightly packed we are in this small space as Kady sidles even closer, her soft hair tickling my face in the breeze.
“What do you need, Calder? Right now?”
Isn’t it obvious? “To get off this fucking Ferris wheel.”
“I’m talking about more than that. What do you really need in this situation?”
“Control.” My blurted out answer surprises me. “I need to feel in control.”
I hate when an outcome is out of my hands. Ezra always tells me to loosen up, but I just can’t. No matter how hard I try.
“Okay, I can work with that.” She continues to speak calmly. If she’s in any way shaken, she isn’t showing it. She touches my wrist, her fingers trailing across my pulse point. “I want you to pretend it’s just the two of us. Let everything else fall away. What would help you feel in control?”
A filthy image of Kady tied to a bed appears in my mind’s eye, her naked body splayed beneath me, at my mercy.
She sniffs, recognizing the change in my scent as I detect a release of pheromones. “What are you thinking about?”
I open one eye again, the atmosphere now supercharged with sensuality. So much so that I almost forget where we are. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes. Tell me how you want to feel control, Calder. I want to help you forget where we are right now.”
“I’d like to…” I lick my dry lips. “Have control over you.”
Her fingers momentarily pause skating over my skin.
“Fuck.” I rub my eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
There’s no way for her to get away from me when we’re suspended over one hundred feet high. I should have lied.
“No, tell me more. The more detailed, the better.” Her voice comes out breathier. “How exactly would you like to have control over me, Calder Soren?”
I shift, getting myself into a more comfortable position as my boner presses against my pants. “You really want to know?”
